Credit: The Associated Press

President Barack Obama talks to family members standing on the Truman balcony of the White House as he walks from Marine One on the South Lawn after returning to Washington, Sunday, June 9, 2013. Obama spent the weekend in California where he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

WASHINGTON — For someone with a reputation for seeking varying points of view before staking out a position or offering advice, Jason Furman was once, well, quite the risk taker.

President Barack Obama's new nominee to a top White House economic advisory post years ago took the stereotype of "on the one hand, on the other hand" economic rumination to a different place.

He juggled. Knives, specifically. On the streets of New York as a teenager. Sometimes, a bowling ball, an egg and an apple.